Buddies
by LionessFeathers
Summary: Boone and Courier meet the lone prospector's dog out by El Dorado dry lake.


**Tags:** Prospector's Dog, F!Courier, Boone, Gen.

**AN:** Written for the Fallout Kink Meme. I am a bit uncomfortable with my writing here, as it's very hard to capture the thought processes of a dog, but here it is for posterity sake.

**Summary:** Boone and Courier meet the lone prospector's dog out by El Dorado dry lake.

**Buddies**

It smelled great.

Usually, his friend took care of all the food, but lately he had been sleeping a lot and so he had had to take care of himself.

At first, he had tromped around blithely. It was so nice to be able to run around without being told where to go or what to do! Never far though. He didn't want to be too far. Why would he? Everything he needed was here. Food, water, and his best buddy, who had decided that he could be trusted enough to walk around the trailers unwatched. Boy, that was exciting! He would be so pleased with him!

After he had eaten up all the food that had been laid out for him, his buddy didn't give him more. In fact, he didn't bother even getting up when he bugged him about it. Finally, he decided that he would eat the boxes that his friend usually kept for himself. Boy, they were awesome! And, what luck, his friend didn't even get mad about him eating the boxes either! He tore into another one. And another. And another. Until they were gone.

Still, there were no reprimands or admonishments. What a good friend! He understood. He knew that if he was too tired to get up that he still needed to eat. And since he could be trusted not to leave now, (and hadn't he done such a good job of demonstrating that?) he had to eat _SOMETHING_. He was a good friend. Of course he knew.

hen, the water ran out. Usually, this was something that his buddy saw to immediately. This time though, he didn't. He had told him repeatedly that they needed more water.

He tried being diplomatic about it.  
He tried throwing a tantrum about it.  
He tried showing him that the container he kept it in was empty.

But no amount of griping, complaining, or begging could get him up to get more.

Then, they came back.

That night, the skittery sound had woken him from his thirsty stupor. His buddy stayed asleep. He saw them. They were coming back! The things! He tried to warn him. He tried to scare them away. Neither his buddy nor the invaders would respond to his cries.

Last time, his friend scared them away. Hit them with a big stick until they were dead. Well, mostly - he had to finish off the last one as it tried to limp away, but it had worked out. His buddy had gone to sleep soon after, right in the middle of the trailers. This time, however, he didn't try to help at all. It hadn't been as easy as his friend made it look. The skittering things breathed the same stuff that food came off of, and it was HOT. He had always been kept away from where is friend made the food come from. Now he knew why.

The skittery things snapped and blew fire at him, but he wouldn't let them get in. Couldn't. His buddy wouldn't like it.

They weren't allowed here.  
They have to stay out.  
He would keep them out.

They had begun to fall one by one as loud noises startled him. His buddy! His buddy had decided to finally get up and help him! But no, he was still asleep in the middle of the campsite, face down in the sand. Someone else had come! Two someone elses! And they had helped him and his buddy!

The someone-elses came into the camp and looked around. The man-someone-else had stopped by to look at his buddy, then said something to the woman-someone-else. Then the woman-someone-else had given him a piece of Brahmin meat, and filled his bowl with water.

Now, it smelled good. He had taken a liking to the woman quickly, and found himself laying next to her, head in lap, letting her rub it. It was glorious. He hadn't noticed how much he loved getting his head scratched, especially right behind the ears, until his friend had stopped doing it.

"We have to keep him."

"I'm not a dog person."

"That guy over there is obviously his master. He'll die if we leave him here."

"He'll die chasing down Legion too, Six."

"Maybe we could find him a new owner?"

"In the middle of the wasteland?"

"We could take him back south to Helios One. The NCR has trained dogs... Maybe they'd take him?"

"Trained is the word."

"Well we can't abandon him! We might have killed all the fire ants that were up here, but what about the ones that are still below the sand?"

The woman seemed to be getting upset. He licked her hand. She looked at him. He wagged his tail. She looked at the man. "Boone. You aren't heartless. You can't really expect me to leave him here. What about the 188? Someone up there might take him." The man sighed. "Fine. The 188. Tell me you aren't going to pick up every stray that needs your help between here and Vegas?"

The woman laughed. She let him sleep next to her all night.

The next morning, they had packed up all their things. Some of his buddy's too. His buddy didn't complain though. He was a nice guy, very generous. The woman called to him. "Come on, here boy", then started to leave.

Every few steps the woman called back to him. He was confused. What did she want? He looked at his buddy for instructions, but he gave none.

"Come on, good puppy. Here boy!" She called him again. Was she trying to get him to go with her? But... why? He looked once more to his most trusted friend, asleep, face down in the sand. Again, he received no guidance. "It's not coming, Six. Lets go." The man seemed annoyed. The woman looked at him sadly, then turned her back.

He wagged his tail and watched them go. No. He couldn't go with them. He appreciated the food they had given him, and the scritches, but... Well, his buddy was still asleep.

He needed to be here. For when he woke up.


End file.
